From four-time gold medallist Sarah Storey to Hollywood's Gwyneth Paltrow, here's what the Twittersphere had to say about Coldplay, Rihanna and co

Last night saw the culmination of seven weeks, tens of thousands of Olympic and Paralympic athletes, and one big star-studded party to close proceedings with a bang. Love them or hate them, Coldplay filled the 80,000 capacity Olympic stadium with their iconic anthems, joined by America’s finest – Jay Z and Rihanna – plus a host of disabled performers, including the British Paralympic Orchestra and the Candoco Dance Company.

From the twists and turns of Danny Boyle’s much-applauded spectacle to Stephen Hawking’s fantastical history of science in the Paralympics Opening Ceremony, Twitter has been ever-vocal in its reaction to the festivities. And last night was no different…

“Steampunk” was the ceremony’s opening theme, as mechanical ships with puffing smoke engines rolled into the stadium, flanked by a giant mechanical fish and energetic dancers.

The haggard beauty of the stage props were appreciated by tweeters, with Billy Bragg sharing:

so far, the #paralympics closing ceremony is proving better than the #olympics closer. Loving the steampunk spectacular

And it wasn’t long before top-billed Coldplay hit the centre of the stadium, bursting into song with Us Against the World. The headliners played an extended set, prompting a wave of reaction from the Twittersphere.

Jimmy Carr ditched his trademark sarcasms to tweet:

Well that went well. Coldplay pretty much hit it out of the park. My usual cynicism will resume tomorrow. Until then.

Famous faces packed out the electric stadium, including Sherlock’s very own Benedict Cumberbatch, who was spotted by Grazia fashion director Charlie Miller boogying along to Rihanna… She even got a photo with him, lucky girl!